diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/util/helpers.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/util/helpers.go
index 88ee7f39d86..323f60c2a92 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/util/helpers.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/util/helpers.go
@@ -452,6 +452,7 @@ func AddApplyAnnotationVarFlags(cmd *cobra.Command, applyAnnotation *bool) {
 // TODO: need to take a pass at other generator commands to use this set of flags
 func AddGeneratorFlags(cmd *cobra.Command, defaultGenerator string) {
 	cmd.Flags().String("generator", defaultGenerator, "The name of the API generator to use.")
+	cmd.Flags().MarkDeprecated("generator", "has no effect and will be removed in the future.")
 	AddDryRunFlag(cmd)
 }